Africa International University
27th Graduation Ceremony
Saturday July 14, 2012
Chancellor’s
Graduation Speech
Prof. Watson
Omulokoli
The Chair and Members Board of Trustees; AEA General Secretary - Rev
Aiah-Foday-Khabenje; Chair and members of the Governing Council; Distinguished
Guest Speaker; Vice-Chancellor; Esteemed Church and Christian Leaders, Your
Excellencies, Faculty, Staff, Students and Alumni of AIU; ladies and gentlemen;
Graduating Class of 2012:
Let me begin by congratulating the graduation class of 2012. A few years
back we welcomed and received you as new students of Africa International
University. Thank you for having chosen to study here. Today we send you off as
graduates.
I
believe that each one of you has not only done well in your studies, but that
you have grown in knowledge, in the
Christian faith, in character, in integrity, and in practical skills. Class
of 2012, I congratulate you profusely.
As I do so, let me remind you of the legacy
that you are now part of. Africa International University was founded as the
Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology (NEGST) with the vision and
commitment of providing quality theological education for the African Church.
Over the years, the university has developed a reputation and legacy of
integrity, quality, and excellence.
I am
pleased that you, and the university community voted the faculty as the
recipients of the integrity award, for the university awards and recognition
for this year. Aspire to this legacy of
integrity.
Prior
to your time, there have been more than one thousand and three hundred
graduates and alumni of this university. They serve as leaders of excellence
and integrity in many countries around the world.
Today
as you graduate, Class of 2012, I charge you to join this legacy of
leadership with integrity. Be faithful to this legacy. Above all be faithful to
the Lord Jesus and serve the Church and the wider society as His ambassadors.
[The whole issue of integrity is a very serious
matter of immense proportions. On one hand, integrity does not come
automatically in a vacuum. On the other hand, integrity should not be marketed
carelessly as a mere buzz-word of the civil society activists, or a cold,
inert, and fixed code in the constitutional order, or a convenient and escapist
catch-word in the Christian arena.
Instead,
it should be an active, dynamic, and practical reality. This is in line with
the historical tradition of such Evangelicals as John Wesley, Charles Simeon,
and William Wilberforce.
Moreover,
if we are alert enough, we will discover concrete and clear examples of the
practice of integrity whom we can emulate in our day.
Just
this week, a number of us spent two days, Sunday and Monday, with a 91 year old
dear Christian, Rev. Gilbert Mulaha, of the Scriptural Holiness Mission, and
the Roving Team. Elsewhere, I have written of him that:
“Of all Kenyan Christians to date, whether clergy or lay, Gilbert Mulaha
is the greatest public exponent, champion, and practitioner of the way of
holiness, purity, righteousness, and integrity”.
As
we ponder this all-important subject of integrity, let us go beyond mere
rhetoric. Let us embrace its transforming genius; let us
internalise its reality for ourselves; and let us line up with its
continuing dynamic force as our guiding beacon in all of our operations.]
As
Africa International University, we have two clear and fundamental mandates. The
first is the mandate to continue faithfully the training of quality
leadership for the varied ministries of the Church. The second is the
equally important mandate of training
quality Christian professional leadership for the wider market-place and
society.
Over
the past year, we developed and launched new programmes which target the
promotion of both of these mandates.
1. At the doctoral level, a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) programme
was launched. This brought to three the
number of doctoral programmes that we now offer.
2. At the undergraduate level, a new Bachelor in Business
Administration (BBA) programme was offered.
As
we forge ahead, the university will continue to develop and launch quality,
innovative, creative and relevant programmes.
1. In September this year (2012), a Doctor of Philosophy
(Ph.D.) programme in Theology will begin.
2. Other programmes being developed in the year ahead (2012-2013)
include Bachelor in Entrepreneurship (BE), Bachelor in Sustainable Development
(BSD), and Master of Arts (M.A.) in Education, with concentration in Child and
Family Studies.
At
Africa International University, we believe that quality university education
is much more than granting a degree or diploma certificate. We are passionate in our belief that the goal
of Christian higher education is to nurture and enable men and women to grow
and flourish as full human beings, created in God’s image. This means that we
should seek to form our students to be what God wants them to be, and to achieve their highest individual
potential.
But
quality Christian education means more than that. It means further that we
desire to see men and women who are in right relationship with God, with
others, with their physical world and environment, and who are a blessing to their
communities and nations.
Based
on this firm conviction, as Chancellor, and together with the Trustees
and Governors, we will do our very best to provide not only quality classroom
education, but also rich co-curricular education experiences as well as quality
physical facilities.
It
is in this context that we welcome the review of education by the Government,
and affirm the many good proposals that it has in the pipeline, in such
facilities as “The 2012 Draft Sessional Paper”, and “The University Draft
Bill”.
Class
of 2012, May
I Congratulate You Once More!
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